We strive to foster a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). We recognise and appreciate the diversity that people of varying backgrounds and expertise contribute and how this enriches our scientific endeavours.

We acknowledge that people from certain social groups continue to be under-represented as research participants and researchers and may be made to feel like they do not belong in the scientific community. Such groups include, but are not limited to, women and gender minorities, people from the LGBTQ+ community, people from marginalised and/or minority racial, ethnic, religious, and displaced groups, people of lower socioeconomic status, disabled people, neurodivergent people. Biases are particularly pronounced for those belonging to multiple marginalised groups.

Our social identities also interact in ways that enrich our professional practices, and we wish to advocate for and celebrate this.

We will work to mindfully identify and address EDI issues by, for example:

• Supporting EDI initiatives at School and College level.
• Increasing awareness of our own biases and working to address their influence on our behaviour.
• Practicing cultural humility across all aspects of our work.
• Consciously incorporating more diverse perspectives in our research and teaching.
• Using our positions of relative privilege to model ally behaviours, making space for, and championing the diversity of our colleagues and students.
• Encouraging students to pursue further education and research opportunities, particularly students from minority and/or marginalised backgrounds.
• Supporting a culture where individuals feel safe to express their identities authentically.
• Respecting and normalising the use of an individual’s name and pronouns when they are comfortable to disclose them.
• Valuing research that promotes and informs greater understanding of EDI issues and how to address them.
• Working to establish diverse, collaborative research groups including members of the relevant communities particularly when conducting research on minority or marginalised groups.
• Working to recruit more inclusive and representative research participants.
• Calling out instances of discrimination and exclusion and, where relevant, calling in those engaged in problematic behaviour (see here).
• Engaging in regular individual and team reviews to assess our priorities, support one another, and encourage each other to strive to these ideals.

We design our research with the principles of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) incorporated to ensure best practice for PPI is followed within the design and implementation of our research projects. Where possible, we aim to increase the involvement of groups studied in our research in the research process itself as partners and collaborators. 

We aim to foster a collegial environment that encourages respect, support, and collaboration. We value kindness and compassion to foster a sense of community. Staff and students are expected to always act respectfully towards one another and not to engage in discriminatory language or behaviour towards others for any reason. All communication, whether it be online or in person, should be appropriate for a professional audience. 

When discussing research, we’ll remember that everyone’s knowledge levels will differ – no one is expected to know everything! We will strive to be as accessible as possible in our language, being patient if/when misunderstandings occur and working towards a shared understanding. We appreciate that we all have something to contribute and something to learn in our teaching and research. 

We aim to promote the work of our colleagues - to celebrate one another’s achievements and be a source of empathy and support when professional disappointments occur. We aim to foster strong collaborations with colleagues both within and beyond the NCI community. As part of this, we will enact equitable co-authorship practices ensuring that those who contribute to the design, completion and communication of research projects are appropriately recognised. These conversations around authorship and work-load expectations will be held early in the timeline of projects with a view to identify and address any potential biases that may show up during this process.

We wish to support the mental and physical wellbeing of ourselves, our colleagues, and our students by encouraging a healthy sense of work/life balance. An academic career can be very demanding with few clear boundaries. We do not support the glorification of overworking; working long hours does not automatically equate to working well. Instead, we support the establishment of healthy boundaries and flexibility in hours and location for work to be conducted, where possible. 

We suggest that emails should be timely but can be sent at times that are most convenient; we encourage colleagues and students not to feel obligated to respond to emails outside of their working hours. We encourage people to reach out to professional supports (including those available at NCI) when needed and to prioritise their wellbeing. 

When it comes to research, we value quality over quantity and do not ascribe to the ‘publish or perish’ trend that can contribute to less rigorous research practices and place enormous pressure on academics. We aim instead to foster joy, excitement, and meaning in our teaching and scientific endeavours as we work to better understand and improve people’s lives and society.